Scenic City with Dale

Me and Dale did 9 holes today at Scenic City. I hit decent with the driver, decent with the irons, inconsistent chipping and not good putting but I still did pretty good. Miles ahead of where I was a month ago.

Total Holes : 150
Total Yardage : 46457
Pars : 4
Birdies : 0

Ottawa trip

This past week my wife and I made our yearly trip down to Ottawa, to visit friends, family etc. We went to Golf Town with my aunt and I tried out some Callaway drivers. I didn't hit worth a crap (I was wearing sandals) but it was still a lot of fun. If I ever win the million I'll totally get a golf simulator...the guy said it cost like $50 grand.

Me, my buddy Kevin and my uncle were supposed to play on Monday. My uncle ended up rolling his ankle at the Bluesfest, which may or may not have been alcohol related but he was out. Me and Kevin were going to play at a course called Falcon Ridge but it was so wet that they had closed the 18 hole and it was Ladies night when we tried to go, so we ended up playing at Capital Golf which was about 5 minutes away from my buddy's house. It was a par 3 but a lot of fun. I still can't figure out which iron to hit to get it 108 yards :) I hit about 3 greens off the "tee" (i didn't use a tee just hit off the grass) but was mostly short with the irons. I did everything okay but nothing spectacular. My buddy played excellent on the first 4 holes but he is a terrible putter. And he gets mad at himself. And on the last hole (the "big one" of 165 yards) he tried a couple with his driver and everything was 45 degrees to the right. He says he loses at least one ball a hole. We did 12 holes and once again I didn't lose any...of course it was a little par 3 but a streak is a streak. It was a wet mess...in Ottawa they got like 23 days of rain in the month of July so I got a couple of soakers. It was fun though and I would play again.




Total Holes : 141
Total Yardage : 43957
Pars : 4
Birdies : 0

"You guys are pros"

Me and Dad went to Scenic City and did 14 holes on a dreary, rainy evening but we had a good time. It took us 2½ hours which is pretty good i think. I easily had the best round of my life (thanks Andy if you're reading). My irons were superb...i used Dad's 3 iron instead of my hybrid and it went pretty good. My chipping was pretty good, not perfect but significantly better. My drives were much straighter...i didn't even lose a ball which is some kind of record for me. My putting was not great, but all in all it was a good round. I don't think I had anything worse than a double bogie. No pars, but most holes I had a long putt for par (which I missed) but I definitely struck the ball very well. Dad played a lot better too...we raced through. We did the back 9 first then did 1 and 2 and cut across to 7 instead of playing #3. We butted in front of these guys who were out for the first time ever and we both hit decent tee shots (Dad almost killed the group in front of us) and it caused the drunkest guy behind us to exclaim "you guys are pros"...it must have been their first day (ha!). I was on the whole extremely pleased...i doubt i even hit 4 bad shots out of 14 holes (not counting putts). We're heading down to Ottawa for a couple of days and hopefully will get a chance to do some golfing with Kevin and Dave. We'll see.

Total Holes : 129
Total Yardage : 42648
Pars : 3
Birdies : 0

Chipping

Today was my last lesson and we worked on chipping, pitching and a little bit of putting. The important thing that I learned was to swing like a pendulum...as much follow through on the chips as back swing. Also angle my feet about 45 degrees, keep the ball by my back foot, have the club pointing back so I hit the ground before the ball. Also I am supposed to "bounce" the club out of the sand and on the pitch shots so I get better lift. I almost killed a couple of kids with some wild shots but I definitely learned some stuff. Putting I am supposed to keep my eyes directly above the ball and be sure to follow through. I still move my wrists too much and don't let my club do enough of the work but I can see the improvements already.

Sunday afternoon Hybrid blues

Me and Blaine went up and hit a bucket of balls after he was done work today at Scenic City. I brought my pitching wedge and the hybrid and was not very good with the hybrid. I still need to slow down. Last lesson tomorrow...we're working on chipping.

GBHS Staff Golf Tournament

On Thursday, me, Brüno, Brad and Philip joined forces as the Red Hot Techie Peppers to take place in the GBHS Staff Golf Tournament. The idea was that we were to all wear red, but unfortunately Phil missed the memo and wore a faded, almost pink t-shirt...i'll have to send out a proper meno next year. The winners were below



We were playing ahead of them and they almost hit us on the last hole but it was fun. I had played at Saugeen Golf club last year with Janet and Blaine. We did the Sunset course (I think...I forgot to grab a scoresheet). It was a lot of fun. I didn't play particularly well...it was best ball, they used my ball about 1/5 or 1/6 of the time which wasn't terrible. Brüno hit some great shots! including a 45 foot putt for our only birdie of the round. We ended up even. I didn't really like playing best ball because I didn't get a chance to work out my kinks if I hit a bad shot but it was still fun. I was basically terrible off the tee, and didn't do that great on any particular area...I hit some good 5-iron shots and I think only one decent hybrid shot. Philip is a terrible golf cart driver :)


Total Holes : 115
Total Yardage : 35554
Pars : 3
Birdies : 0

Up The Irons

Tonight me, Brüno, Dave G and Steve (the latter two I had never golfed with before) went to Pinewoods for the Bull tour. It was a very short course, but a lot of fun. It would have taken about an hour and a half to do if it wasn't for all the people. I wasn't fabulous with the driver...I need to slow down. I was tremendously better with my irons...even Brüno said so :) I had a really good day putting and not so great with the chipping. I had a par where I dinged my tee shot (off the grass) with my hybrid, put it just off the green, chipped on and dropped it in. The course was immaculately kept...it seemed longer than when me, Jane, Janet and Blaine went 2 years ago...maybe the holes have been switched. Dave has a very nice set with Taylor Made drivers and Calloway irons. He said the irons were the old rental set from Cobble Beach so he got a deal. He was really good on shots from within 100 yards. I did most of the stuff Andy mentioned at the lesson...i took lots of warmup swings...i slowed myself down...used tempo. I didn't follow through as much as I should/could have, but I learned to trust myself. I didn't lose any balls until 9 but all in all it was a good day and a good warmup for the hospital golf tournament tomorrow. My best shot of the day, I chipped one in from about 40 or 50 feet on the 8th hole...which was great because I had chipped it from 10 feet on the one side to 40 or 50 feet on the other side :) I am definitely seeing improvement.

Total Holes : 106
Total Yardage : 32533
Pars : 3
Birdies : 0

Lesson #2

Today I went back to Stone Tree for my second lesson with Andy. I was joking with Kathy that I was so happy with the last lesson that I wanted to give him a hug but I didn't want to get banned from Stone Tree :) It started off slowly...they were out of balls at the driving range. We focused on a lot of the same things. He wanted to make sure I slowed everything down, so we focused on tempo and follow through. The other thing he mentioned was keeping the ball closer and trying to put about 60% of my weight on the front foot. I asked (again) about the hybrid and he said just to practice with it and take it slow and make the club do the work. Wednesday is out at Hepworth and Thursday is the work one. It should be a lot of fun. Next Monday is the next lesson...it's going to be all on the chipping green.

driving range

Went to the driving range tonight with dad to "perfect" my swing. i hit okay but i played too fast...i shot only with irons and hybrid...i still need to slow down.

What a great night of golf

Jane's aunt Janet was going for surgery tomorrow (and will be on the shelf for 6 weeks) so me, Blaine and Janet went to golf at Scenic City so she could get 9 holes in..i used my gift certificate from my parent's so it was a cheap night :) what a difference the lessons made. i didn't hit it particularly well off the tee, but I was spectacular with the irons (for me). i even hit a couple good hybrid shots. i did everything Andy told me to do consistently except rotate the club on the back swing. it felt good and i was very happy with my golf. not sure if i scored any higher than usual but i did not hit many bad shots...it was a lot of fun.

Total Holes : 92
Total Yardage : 28838
Pars : 2
Birdies : 0

Drats! Mother Nature spoiled golf again...

We were supposed to golf at Homestead in Durham and it was overcast as we headed out of Owen Sound. Jane dropped me off at Rockford and me and Peggy drove and it started raining as soon as we hit Williamsford. Boo-urns! We came back and had breakfast in Owen Sound and the ground was dry. Boo-urns!

Maybe I'll still get out tomorrow